Frozen Water Lines?

[BillandChar]

Thanks in advance for any help offered. It was around 0 degrees last night and we now have no water coming from the sink or commode lines. We checked the exterior hoses and have water coming to the city-water hookup. The rig is a 2009 Augusta 5th wheel new to us a few weeks ago. The owners manual is missing.

The rig is being kept at 68 degrees and the "Heater" switch is on. I've opened all cabinet doors and drawers near water lines to allow heat to circulate.

Is there a switch of some kind that shuts off the water if it gets so cold that there's a danger to the lines? Is there a access panel for water valves inside the coach?

Thanks again for any help.

 

[jimtoo]

Hi Bill and Char,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and Family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge if needed.

I'm sorry I can't give you any ideas about where the freeze up may be because I live where I almost never have that problem of freezing. But hopefully someone will jump in and help out soon.

Jim M

 

[Hoosier Wolverine]

Bill and Char, I'm amazed you have water coming to the city-water hookup when the temps have dropped to zero, unless you have heat tape on your hose.

I'm not familiar with your Augusta. I have a BigHorn. My BH has a panel in the basement that swings open allowing access to the plumbing. If I were in your shoes I'd try putting a ceramic heater in that area. When temps are that low any plumbing near outside walls will freeze.

John

 

[caissiel]

Did you leave the water hose connected
The basement should have been warm enough to keep the lines warm if the furnace was running.
If you used an other source of heat you might have not have enough air circulation in the basement.
The low water drain on older model was the only problem I had in the cold.

There are no protection against freezing water line and to be fair its at the lowest temperature these units are tested to stay warm inside and not neccessary water kept from freezing as I can understand the layout of water and tank locations.

I did servive the cold freezing temperatures in our unit but made sure the furnace was kept working often to keep air circulation in the basement. The fresh water tank was used and I was not connected to the city water hose.

There not much heat behind the wheel and I would bet that the fresh water tank don't get much heat, but the water lines and equipment is close to the furnace return air path.

My solution is that I am now in NC and well above Freezing here compared to home last week in NB Canada.

 

[hoefler]

I found that the heater hose to the basement only 2" in diameter and stuffed in the insulation, way too small IMO. I also found one of the block outs had come out of the furnace plenum. After reinstalling the block out and silicon in place, it just rotates to stay in place and vibrated out. I keep a small space heater in the basement on a plug in thermostat for this reason.

 

[navyAZ1]

Even if you're not hooked up to city water your lines can freeze due to the fresh water drain line and the low point drain lines protruding out of the under belly. What I did is insullate these lines and such as now when we are in the teens here in N. GA where we are visiting our son for Christmas I made a styrofoam box that covers these lines and taped it to the under belly. What happens is the end of the line freezes and then it travels up to the lines in the under belly.

Good Luck

Ron

 

[rumaco]

I bought a portable electric heater made by Martin (kind of spendy) and is used in Million dollar boats left in Storage in NW Washington (Gig Harbor, Port Ludlow and the likes.) They leave them in all winter and are very good at keeping the cold out. I keep it in the main living area in storage and then in the basement when traveling and never have water problems. Have tried the portables out of Lowes and HD but they get overheated and pop breakers constantly. Broken lines are way no fun!!!!